tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post5790166391298016890..comments2024-03-29T15:45:04.867+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: On diary writing, and memories of 1990Jabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-8258056268193608542016-10-14T12:06:16.411+05:302016-10-14T12:06:16.411+05:30Thanks! Can't believe it has been nearly 10 ye...Thanks! Can't believe it has been nearly 10 years since I stopped regular diary-writing. Or indeed, that it's been so long since I even opened one of my old diaries...Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-22373582795000638432016-10-14T01:28:49.587+05:302016-10-14T01:28:49.587+05:30Was a pleasure to read this Jai, as it often is to...Was a pleasure to read this Jai, as it often is to read your articles and posts. This was a fun nostalgia filled post, but I appreciate how layered, analytical and interesting your writing is more generally. Am wishing I had kept a dairy myself.. I think wanted to as a kid as it seemed like a romantic thing to do.. but I had the same concerns as those stated by some of your other readers in the comments section..afraid that others wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to read it. Even when one is assured of complete privacy, sometimes that paper just seems so extraneous, transferring thoughts from one's mind to it and giving a completely candid account of what you are thinking can just seem too big a leap. How many people manage to keep an intimate diary is beyond me....but the advantages are obvious, as evident by both your post and the comments. There's a valuable treasure trove to revert to in later years. Maybe I'll begin one now..better late than never :)silverambrosiahttp://www.silverambrosia.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-63732703363339293892008-01-12T13:30:00.000+05:302008-01-12T13:30:00.000+05:30Can relate so much. I was always the diary types r...Can relate so much. I was always the diary types right from childhood and stopped it only when I was a couple of years into my working life. The reason being I didnt get enough time and certainly not enough privacy to write things on my own terms. I started blogging, but then that has never been synonymous to diary writing for me. I still have all my old diaries and I abs love going through old times and retouching those memory cells in ones brain where everything again becomes fresh. It's yesterday once more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-36993712993252795582008-01-08T18:42:00.000+05:302008-01-08T18:42:00.000+05:30salman rushdie was right when he qouted that writi...salman rushdie was right when he qouted that writing preserves slices of our life ,it does indeed ,diary writing thaough monotonous brings it pleasure in reading and recollecting it later ,but requires persistence .<BR/>my great grnd uncle a textile engineer during british days has recorde every single day for more than forty years in neat hoe and koe diaries ,i was small when i discoverd this treasure and spent many afternoons in dark corners curled up with his diaries in my native place during holidays ,my mothers wedding and all details were there for me to read ,unfortunately but for that single one which i whisked later all is lost <BR/>so please do continue your diary writing they are etchings of your past ,all the best .harimohanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18105229701118099822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-828622276568111872008-01-03T14:08:00.000+05:302008-01-03T14:08:00.000+05:30I personally hate going back and reading old diari...I personally hate going back and reading old diaries. I don't think I ever recorded events that took place, mainly things I was worried about. And those worries seem very minor and pathetic now.<BR/><BR/>Plus, they're not very interesting anyway. I could never write about everything personal. My younger sister was going through her nosy phase, and since I refuse to have diaries with a lock, my diaries were very open targets for her. :)Sumedhahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08143819603608847060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-49501652954640535682008-01-03T00:28:00.000+05:302008-01-03T00:28:00.000+05:30oops, link got eaten up. Here it is againhttp://t...oops, link got eaten up. Here it is again<BR/>http://tinyurl.com/2ayj27Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-19502993941909934502008-01-03T00:26:00.000+05:302008-01-03T00:26:00.000+05:30But surely, your diary can't beat this man's :-)ht...But surely, your diary can't beat this man's :-)<BR/><BR/>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2767270.eceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-66935917627465013702008-01-02T23:48:00.000+05:302008-01-02T23:48:00.000+05:30I don't have old diaries to go back to. In a fit o...I don't have old diaries to go back to. In a fit of anger and angst, I got rid of them - in fact I dramatically burnt them (so filmi - even at 18). <BR/><BR/>Part of me is glad though. The tiny part that doesn't want to deal with how awful certain years can be.. and how embarrassing one's pontification can sound years later..<BR/><BR/>Lovely post - and no - we don't go away just because you ask us to.neha vishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16549996517146151040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-76889629015771035472008-01-02T22:51:00.000+05:302008-01-02T22:51:00.000+05:30Great post. Made me nostalgic... Came here through...Great post. Made me nostalgic... Came here through a friend--Paresh. <BR/><BR/>Will definitely come back as I want to read more...Alexishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01562312984824098848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-55093432510142356022008-01-02T19:45:00.000+05:302008-01-02T19:45:00.000+05:30Jai, Happy New Year. Loved this post. Looking forw...Jai, <BR/>Happy New Year. <BR/><BR/>Loved this post. <BR/><BR/>Looking forward to lots and lots of wonderfully thoughtful and hilarious posts in 2008. <BR/><BR/>Dont disappoint me. <BR/><BR/>:-)<BR/>AAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-66881518833861816592008-01-01T19:18:00.000+05:302008-01-01T19:18:00.000+05:30WHAT A BUNCH OF NERDS. JAI AND COMMENTERSWHAT A BUNCH OF NERDS. JAI AND COMMENTERSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-69048933441297473252008-01-01T17:58:00.000+05:302008-01-01T17:58:00.000+05:30Oh yay, a diary post!:DReading this brought back m...Oh yay, a diary post!:D<BR/><BR/>Reading this brought back memories...My first diary was a disney diary with a cute little lock that anybody could pick. I was around 7-8 around that time and wrote things like 'I was sad that we did not have the hindi test today'.<BR/><BR/>It is wildly addictive, this digging out of old entries. Spotting patterns of misery and ecstacy(how cliched, but to be spotted in mine :) )<BR/><BR/>Where you have left regular journal writing this past year, I have taken it up.I have never been this regular before, and I do think it helps in organising the mess that is my life. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-48583865399664979632008-01-01T15:44:00.000+05:302008-01-01T15:44:00.000+05:30Diaries are great diagnostics. You can see recurri...Diaries are great diagnostics. You can see recurring problems (your life, relationships) much more clearly when you have a record.<BR/><BR/>Also, you can be painfully honest with yourself in the private one.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11979099301753623236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-30784328174477113042008-01-01T15:11:00.000+05:302008-01-01T15:11:00.000+05:30hey you, i'm an old reader of this blog. this post...hey you, i'm an old reader of this blog. this post reminds me of a fun suicide project i once read about: http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/out-there/7925/discomfort-zoneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-4896096615783205912008-01-01T14:25:00.000+05:302008-01-01T14:25:00.000+05:30Haha. In 1990 when I was 9 I made a diary in which...Haha. In 1990 when I was 9 I made a diary in which I created a secret code language with symbols resembling Egyptian hieroglyphs or some extraterrestrial language. The diary also had odd pieces of information that I read about in encyclopedias but it was never my cup of tea to maintain a daily diary despite the suggestions of various elders to do so as it improves one's language etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-91186972678063249942008-01-01T14:23:00.000+05:302008-01-01T14:23:00.000+05:30At the most basic level, I'm much more candid and ...<I>At the most basic level, I'm much more candid and earnest about my feelings in the diaries - whereas in the blog I tend to use distanced humour to deal with the things that make me uncomfortable or unhappy.</I><BR/><BR/>Totally agree! Moreover, I personally feel diaries are a good way to track some then silly moments but significant to remember today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-20411469885758609262008-01-01T13:26:00.000+05:302008-01-01T13:26:00.000+05:30I started keeping a diary only 2.5 years ago when ...I started keeping a diary only 2.5 years ago when I was 20. I think I did think of it as a girlie activity when I was a kid.<BR/>I realised that mostly I was writing about relationships and quite irregularly. A daily routine is almost impossible for me to follow. It's more like I want each entry to mean something, than be just everyday routine stuff.Debasishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04663429184678231506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-63774918375213819052008-01-01T12:07:00.000+05:302008-01-01T12:07:00.000+05:30It is also a part of growing up - this ability to ...<I>It is also a part of growing up - this ability to detach oneself intellectually and with that the ability to sublimate and transform personal feelings into something that is "objective" or at least something that is general and may be of interest to others.</I><BR/><BR/>Alok: I agree, but for me personally there's a strong distinction between the diary-writing and the personal posts on the blog, and I can't think of the latter as a grown-up extension of the former. They serve different needs. At the most basic level, I'm much more candid and earnest about my feelings in the diaries - whereas in the blog I tend to use distanced humour to deal with the things that make me uncomfortable or unhappy. Rereading some of the old diaries showed me that the non-public writing has its own purpose (again, speaking for myself). Apart from being good reference points in general, as I mentioned in the post.<BR/><BR/>Space Bar: one of us is definitely redundant. But happy new year anyway.<BR/><BR/><I>I stopped filling up pages with the day's activities and wrote only on days when I had something important to write like a philosophical passage or an opinion or some thoughts.</I><BR/><BR/>Anaamica: my wife says she used to do the same - writing only when she absolutely had to express something. When we were looking through my 1990 diary yesterday, she felt it was a better idea to be regular, because you end up recording so many little details that way, which are interesting to revisit later in life.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-45059130123303938412008-01-01T10:54:00.000+05:302008-01-01T10:54:00.000+05:30I don't remember the three films you mention but I...I don't remember the three films you mention but I closely followed the Salmaan Khan's post Maine Pyaar Kiya career too<BR/><BR/>I used to write a diary too though not for long. I may be wrote for one and half years. I stopped writing when I realized that the entries sounded more like film reviews and general commentaries rather than any real soul-searching. That's when I started blogging :) <BR/><BR/>It is also a part of growing up - this ability to detach oneself intellectually and with that the ability to sublimate and transform personal feelings into something that is "objective" or at least something that is general and may be of interest to others. After a while you really don't feel the need for private journals anymore. You are confident to put your feelings in public because they are transformed into something different without losing their authenticity. I think you have yourself mentioned this in many of your posts here on the blog... so this is to more regular and more idiosyncratic and personal blogging in 2008...Alokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12947383354732747209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-6510423829795984392008-01-01T10:36:00.000+05:302008-01-01T10:36:00.000+05:30You know what I'm going to say, don't you? I have ...You know what I'm going to say, don't you? I have that exact same diary; only difference is, my mum bought it, and gave it to me for my wedding, with recipes written in it. <BR/><BR/>:D<BR/><BR/>Happy New Year to you too!Space Barhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08251329008160756254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-21712180405832149882008-01-01T10:22:00.000+05:302008-01-01T10:22:00.000+05:30Now I am all nostalgic. Just like you, I have been...Now I am all nostalgic. Just like you, I have been keeping a diary since childhood, but unlike yours, most pages of my diary are blank. I stopped filling up pages with the day's activities and wrote only on days when I had something important to write like a philosophical passage or an opinion or some thoughts.<BR/><BR/>I too discontinued this ritual questioning the use of it all. Now that I read your post and found out that when you read a page in your diary, you get a different glimpse of your own self, the temptation to pick up this habit again is rising. May be I will buy a 2008 diary after all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com